But while you may think it’s the high-end sports cars that are on the car thieves’ shopping list, often it’s quite the opposite, as this gallery shows.
Though it doesn’t quite feel like it’s running on rails, the Zafira Tourer is smooth and stable at a 180km/h cruise on the unrestricted autobahn outside Munich.
Design chief Mark Adams cites European high-speed trains, like France’s TGV, as the inspiration for Opel’s new MPV, and it drives like the engineers had similar ideas…
With the most powerful of three different 2.0-litre CDTI turbo-diesels beneath its sloping snout, the Zafira Tourer pulls like a locomotive. With its maximums of 121kW and 350Nm, this is the sole engine selected by Opel Australia to import here in early 2013. The diesel will be teamed with a six-speed auto. According to Opel Australia boss, Bill Mott, a petrol engine may be offered later.
The Zafira Tourer will be among the second wave of Opel models, following the Corsa, Astra and Insignia, all of which will be available at the German brand’s Australian launch in the second half of 2012.
In Europe, the Tourer doesn’t replace the second-gen AH Astra-based Zafira. Both will be sold side-by-side, with one appealing to value-conscious buyers and the newcomer attracting the style-sensitive. Below them both will sit the (not-for-Oz) five-seat Meriva, with its rear-hinged rear doors.
The Zafira Tourer is built on a platform that combines the Insignia’s strut front suspension with an Astra-like torsion beam and Watts link rear end, joined by a new centre section. With the new floorpan giving the MPV bigger-than-Insignia wheelbase and width, this is not a compact MPV. The good-looking exterior, with its boomerang-shaped headlight clusters reminiscent of the Volt/Ampera hybrid, was the work of an Australian, Niels Loeb.
Interior flexibility is outstanding, and it can be configured for anything from full-house seven to just two passengers without removing the seats. Clever folding is only part of the story. The second-row seat is divided into three sections, and the central part can be flipped forward and converted into an armrest. Slide the two outboard sections backwards, and their tracks move them towards the centre of the vehicle, to create a remarkably spacious four-seat layout. While the third-row seats will take average-size adults, it’s really only suitable for short trips. Kids, on the other hand, will likely love it back there.
It’s plenty practical, but the Tourer is also not a bad drive. Although the steering is feel-free, both handling and ride are quite car-like. And, thanks to the lusty turbo-oiler, performance is strong. Even a land without high-speed trains, like Australia, will find reasons to like Opel’s new MPV.
What is the funniest bumper sticker that you have ever seen on a car? From the political to the just bizarre – we’ve selected some of the more creative options to adorn a rear car bumper.
Stinking hot Heathcote’s drag strip is where the final part of PCC 2011 takes place, with the first off the rank the smurf blue feral-sounding Jaguar XJR-S.
Dave Morley does the honours, taking turns with Warren Luff to gather the data for the entire field (all in the name of research, mind you). It’s matter of working out the best launch techniques for each car: ESP completely off or in Sport mode or use Launch Control in the Porsches and the GT-R.
The Jag and the three Mercs are the most vocal, while the photographer’s demands for a smoke show (this time in the name of art) are met with Vigour by both the CLS and the C63 AMGs. In this setting, the DS3 and A1 Sport quietly sitting in the corner, while the R8 V10 is a looker and quick, but it’s not as chest-beating as the big V8s.
It’s decision time for our six judges though, as we head into town for a coffee to download the numbers and use them to cement the cars that have impressed on the road and around Phillip Island. Some cars met their straight-line expectations, while others were less dazzling.
It’s the raw numbers that, combined with each judges’ seat of the pants feel from yesterday’s drive up Lake Mountain, that will determine their rank. Is the CLS’s seating too high? The 18-inch alloys on the C63 a tad too small?
Does the Cayman R need door bins? Is the R8 Spyder a serious contender considering that its Coupe sibling won in 2009 – shared with the now-improved GT-R? That was two years ago, though, and since the 1-Series M, Cayman R, Audi RS5 (and those AMGs) have come along. And the TT RS is not without merit and skill too.
Feel sorry for the judges? Probably not, given the glorious roads and mouth-watering machinery – and Victoria’s countryside as a backdrop. Now, they must decide MOTOR’s Performance Car Cup Winner for 2011.
It’s funny what difference a few hours makes.
The day began with car allocation for the road loop north, where the 18-man crew hope that the car they’re given to start off in is one on their bucket list.
Of course, it’s our judges who have the ultimate choice, and once we’ve split into groups and been given a set of keys each, we depart Phillip Island, with yesterday afternoon’s excellent weather in tow.
It’s plain sailing on the relatively straight roads, and a mix of road works spoils any fun there’s to be had in the windier sections. The fun began, though, when the 1-Series M Coupe I’m driving flaunts a ‘Tyre Puncture’ warning on the dash. I immediately pull over, calling the Cleary in the leading Audi TT RS to let him know. Inspecting each of those stunning 19-inch alloys, the BMW appears fine (apart from minor evidence of yesterday afternoon’s track time).
Delving further into the tyre-pressure monitoring system reveals that it has simply picked up a ‘drop in pressure’; most likely a result of us returning its pressures back to placard for the road loop. All is well. Until the other BMW in this group – the rag-top 650i – hits a deep, deep pot-hole. There’s no doubting that its 19-inch run-flat’s a goner. It’s shame, because the V8 convertible was meant for these long-distance drives, and it was proving its credentials as a Grand Tourer.
The rest of the crew have travelled on through the Yarra, while the 650i awaits a new front left, with Torrens continually falling behind in the A1 Sport after taking a wrong turn, while Amac’s lapping some of the greatest roads in the Victorian high country at the wheel of the impressive C63 AMG Coupe.
And the roads are only going to get windier this afternoon…
This is what it’s all about: brilliant, challenging roads and equally matched performance cars.
It’s the Victorian high country that reveals whether the cars that excelled on the track can actually work in the real world: Nissan’s GT-R is one of the contenders that amazed at Phillip Island, yet today it has to mix it with potholes, traffic and touring.
That’s where the SLS may come in, or more likely its more affordable stablemates, the CLS 63. Audi’s RS5 should be a solid all-rounder with its new adaptive dampers, while the Porsche Panamera Turbo S – the flagship four-door from Stuttgart – has the comfort, style and legs to carve up road kays yet is a track favourite among the judges too.
The challenge is two-fold this afternoon: getting enough time in each machine and savouring the moment, while crossing our fingers that the rain holds off. It has sprinkled on and off all day, which has prevented Ponch from spelling out ‘YMCA’ from the Audi R8 Spyder as often as he’d like, and these roads are challenging enough. Corner after corner takes concentration, but the reward after linking a set of curves is there for the taking.
A chilly Lake Mountain, with its daunting, eerily bushfire scarred landscape, proves the perfect scenario for sorting out crusiers from corner carvers without the luxury of a smooth track surface, as well as playing ‘living’ with each car for a fleeting moment.
We are presented with a cold and wet Phillip Island as we roll up to the famous circuit, dampening the enthusiasm of being able to unleash the 16-car field on one of the greatest tracks in Australia.
There’s a cold harsh wind rolling in as we make the sensible decision to ditch the planned track session in favour of photography. Pro-shooter Easton Chang has the crew assembled near Siberia corner, amassing the AMG SLS, Jaguar XKR-S, Porsche Cayman R and Nissan GT-R. Meanwhile, the weather lived up to its name – it may as well be bloody Siberia!
Fellow shooter Brunelli, wearing the brighest piece of headgear known to man, has mustered the Audi R8 Spyder and BMW 650i, making full use of the Mazda CX-9 support car and its sunroof.
Yet, as we help Easton set up the rig on the Cayman, even on foot the track surface is slippery.
The all-wheel drive cars – the GT-R and the quartet of Audis – may prove the pick here, but Cleary’s sighting laps in the CLS 63 reveal a drying track as the urge to cut some times returns.
We haven’t made it out there yet, but the time to remain sensible may almost be over…
Stay tuned.
“I did it for photography of course,” laughs Nathan Ponchard, one of our six resident PCC 2011 judges. He’d been heading into Honda corner and decided, at Brunelli’s request, to drift the BMW 1-Series M Coupe. He ended up going right around leaving a trail of smoke.
The gods have turned Phillip Island from a wet, miserable place barely suitable for photographs to a glorious playground for our judges. Yet Ponchard wasn’t the first to spin – Curt Dupriez won that contest, and in the Cayman R, no less.
“It was just sliding nicely, then hit 45 degrees, 60 degrees…” It was graceful at least, unlike the snarling soundtrack the trio of Benzes have been pumping out since the track work began at noon. They’ve been the most vocal of the bunch, but there are a few surprises, including our Bang for Your Bucks 2011 champion, the VW Polo GTI. For the junior hatch to raise even a mention in this company says it all.
Luffy’s yet to take the SLS for its timed lap, so it’s all to play for as we churn through the entire PCC 2011 field, with the Nissan GT-R – updated since its tie with the R8 V10 Coupe back in 2009 – looking and feeling particularly sharp. The SLS’s $30K optional brakes have also raised eyebrows, while the rag-top BMW 650i seems more at home on the boulevard. Then there’s tomorrow’s road loop to sort out which cars are genuinely capable on road and track and those that can only muster a single trick.
We’ve been strapping cameras to the cars as they lap Phillip Island, so keep an eye on this site as we add footage as well as facebook.com/motormag and on twitter @MOTOR_MAG
It’s about time Hyundai started building memorable cars. About time its worth as a global brand was measured in terms other than steeping sales and profitability. And maybe the i40 Tourer suggests Hyundai also realises the clock is ticking, because this mid-size wagon is just about the most interesting mainstream car the big Korean has launched in Australia.
The photography might not leave that impression, but what appears heavy and even bloated in two-dimensions assumes more grace and poise in three. It is the first Hyundai that makes you stop and look… for the right reasons. And it’s intentional. The eagles eyes, creased sides, reverse D-pillar and long rear overhang are an interpretation of the ‘Fluidic Sculpture’ design language emanating from its European design office in Germany.
If new-found style doesn’t impress, then there’s always i40’s impressive set of numbers to attract attention. Try out nine airbags, a five-star ANCAP rating and a five-year/unlimited km warranty. Pricing starts at $32,490 for the Active petrol manual, rising as high as $46,490 for the Premium diesel auto. Supply is constrained out of the Ulsan plant in Korea, so Hyundai is expecting about 150 sales per month.
Inside, the i40 looks and feels quality and offers masses of practical people and luggage space courtesy of its front-wheel drive layout and 4.77m length.
The engineering development also owes much to Hyundai’s German outpost, reflecting the i40’s primary intended function as a booster for the company’s lagging European sales share.
Building on the architectural core that also underpins the mid-size i45 sedan, the i40 has Mac struts and multi-links, electric-assist power steering and the choice of naturally-aspirated 2.0-litre petrol and 1.7-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder engines.
The base model Active gets a six-speed manual, primarily to promote the low $30K entry price for the petrol and a stellar 4.7L/100km fuel consumption average for the diesel. But a six-speed auto is the only choice for mid- and upper-spec Elite and Premium buyers.
The diesel-auto is clearly the better powertrain. An unappealing 12.0 sec 0-100km/h claim belies the way it combines thrift with smooth punch in a way the shallower ‘Nu’ petrol engine cannot match. Only its $2000 price advantage sways the argument.
Australia has an engineering involvement in the i40, because it has gone through the same local-iced suspension and steering tuning that began with the latest (and impressive) Elanora. Ten thousand kilometres of comparative testing resulted in a softer damper, firmer spring, thicker front sway bar and a power steering remap designed to reduce stickiness just off centre.
The result is a ride that is comfortable on the 16-inch wheeled Active, degrading to stilted on the Premium’s 18s. Still acceptable however, and body control is disciplined throughout.
Steering mods are less successful. Accurate? Yes. Communicative? No. It is the obvious deficiency that ensures the likes of the Mazda6 and Ford Mondeo are a dynamic class above. Only one class now mind you, which is almost a victory for Hyundai.
But almost isn’t good enough. While Hyundai’s quest for respect takes an important step forward here, the i40 isn’t a triumph. Wheels marks tough when it comes to dynamics, and that unarguably is a cornerstone of building truly memorable cars.
Sixteen cars, a bunch of car nuts and one helluva a week. Welcome toMOTOR’s Performance Car Cup 2011.
We’ve assembled the fastest, baddest and meanest cars of the past 12 months, from screaming turbocharged four-pots, sweet sixes, atmo and turbocharged V8s and, for good measure a V10 too.
While it’s a public holiday in Victoria, today sees the cars travel through Victoria’s Gippsland for photography as we make our way to glorious Phillip Island. Follow the crew via twitter @MOTOR_MAG and on Facebook and get all the news, reviews and features direct.
